Entries Tagged as 'Music and Nightlife'
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
After years of label drama and leaked tracks that hinted at something great, the OutKast MC exceeds high expectations on his proper solo debut. Musically, the album drips with 1980s synth-funk signifiers. The keyboards glimmer as they roam, and talkboxes mutter and blurt. But these tracks aren’t the stoned miasmas that someone like Dâm-Funk cranks out. Instead, they’re itchy and fleet-footed. New melodic elements flit in and out of tracks just as you start to notice them, and there’s a lot going on at any given moment. We haven’t heard a major-label rap album this inventive, bizarre, joyous, and masterful in a long time.
The-Dream - Love King
On his third album, the influential R&B singer/songwriter comes into his own as an album artist, getting over on his impeccable sense of craft. Here, it no longer feels as if The-Dream is splitting the difference between his pop star ambition and a large cult of admirers. With Love King, he’s broken down the detachment that made him such a popular songwriter to follow his personal musical vision, and it’s taken him to a place only he could find.
Best Coast - Crazy For You
California’s Bethany Cosentino delivers on the promise of her noisy early singles with a richer-sounding album that highlights the power of her voice. While retaining her knack for pining pop hooks and lovesick lyrics, Crazy for You finds Cosentino expanding her scope ever so slightly: The album is a meditation on the stickier hooks of classic indie pop, with slight detours into surf-rock and countrypolitan balladry, and is gorgeously produced, slathering honey over every song and letting them drip-dry in the sunshine.
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
The New Orleans rapper’s long and strange career path leads to this lush, languid, and inviting LP. Like friend and frequent collaborator Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y has become one of the dominant voices in the rap underground by making a form of unassuming stoner-rap that owes virtually nothing to J Dilla. And with Pilot Talk, he gets his moment. Pilot Talk finds Curren$y working almost exclusively with 90s New York producer Ski Beatz– an unexpected but inspired collaborative pairing. Musically, Pilot Talk is a warm, low-key affair. Ski’s tracks can be breathtakingly gorgeous without ever getting in Curren$y’s way.
